animal learning psych test 1 lecture hints

At what level does opponent-process theory explain learning?

Whole-organism behavioral level: changes in emotional reactions over experience.

At what level did Kandel investigate Aplysia learning?

Neurons and synapses: cellular and molecular mechanisms of habituation and sensitization.

What is the general process approach?

Search for common learning principles that can be studied in standard experimental situations across species.

Name two standard preparations used in the general process approach.

Thorndike's cat puzzle box and Skinner's pigeon box.

Give examples of simple reflexes in the lecture jumpscare.

Eye wince, scream, and arms-up response.

What is an orienting response?

Directing attention toward the stimulus that triggered a response.

What is the jumpscare example of orienting?

Looking back toward whatever scared you.

What is negative taxis in a jumpscare?

Moving away from the potential danger.

What is kinesis?

A nondirectional change in the vigor of ongoing movement.

Can learning occur without an immediate change in behavior?

Yes; latent learning can occur without immediately changing performance.

What is the learning-performance distinction?

What an animal has learned can differ from what it currently expresses in behavior.

What did Tolman and Honzik's maze study demonstrate?

Rats can learn a maze without an immediate reward and reveal that learning when food becomes available.

Which three groups were compared in Tolman's maze study?

Consistently rewarded rats; never rewarded rats; rats initially unrewarded but rewarded later.

What happened when food was introduced for the previously unrewarded Tolman rats?

Their maze errors rapidly declined, revealing previously acquired latent learning.

What is nervism?

The view associated with Sechenov that behavior depends on neural circuitry and neural excitation/inhibition.

What is hedonism?

The idea that behavior is guided by seeking pleasure and avoiding pain.

What is nativism?

The view that important knowledge or behavioral capacities are innate.

What is empiricism?

The view that knowledge comes from experience.

What did Descartes propose about simple animal behavior?

Simple reflexive, mechanically elicited animal behavior can be studied to understand bodily mechanisms relevant to humans.

How does Descartes's dualism limit study of voluntary animal behavior?

It separates mind and body and does not treat animals as having a human-like rational mind directing voluntary action.

What is a sign stimulus?

The stimulus that elicits a modal action pattern.

What is a supernormal sign stimulus?

An exaggerated version of a natural sign stimulus that elicits an unusually strong response.

What stickleback sign stimulus triggers attack?

A red belly associated with a rival male.

What stickleback sign stimulus triggers courtship?

A swollen belly associated with a female.

What is sensitization?

An increase in elicited responding associated with arousing or threatening events.

How does sensitization change responding during fearful arousal?

An already-aroused animal shows a larger reaction to the same stimulus.

What is the a-process in opponent-process theory?

The initial emotional reaction elicited by an event; its strength stays relatively stable across repetitions.

What is the b-process in opponent-process theory?

An opposing emotional reaction that counteracts the a-process and helps restore homeostasis.

What does a first parachute jump illustrate about the a-process?

The jump elicits strong initial fear.

How does the b-process change after many parachute jumps?

It starts sooner and becomes stronger, reducing the net fear while producing a stronger opponent after-reaction.

What determines the emotional response observed in opponent-process theory?

The combined effect of the initial a-process and opposing b-process.

In pigeon autoshaping, what is the CS?

The illuminated response key that signals a forthcoming US.

In food autoshaping, what is the US?

Food delivery.

In food autoshaping, what is the UR?

Unconditioned feeding/pecking behavior elicited by food.

In food autoshaping, what is the CR?

Approaching and pecking the illuminated key.

Do pigeons learn only that something good is coming in food/water autoshaping?

No; their different food- and water-related pecking CRs indicate learning about the specific forthcoming US.

Why do pigeons peck a food-signaling light even when it reduces food delivery?

Sign-tracking is a Pavlovian CR elicited by the food-predictive CS and is not dependent on pecking earning food.

Why might approaching food-associated signals be adaptive in nature?

Such signals often mark the location of actual food, so approach brings an animal toward food.

What is an explicitly unpaired control?

Present the CS and US on separate trials so they are not paired.

What is pseudoconditioning?

Increased responding to a formerly ineffective CS caused by prior exposure to the US alone, not CS-US association.

What is short-delay conditioning?

The CS starts shortly before the US and overlaps with it.

What is trace conditioning?

The CS ends, then a stimulus-free gap occurs before the US begins.

What is long-delay conditioning?

The CS starts long before the US and continues until the US occurs.

What is simultaneous conditioning?

CS and US begin at the same time.

What is backward conditioning?

The US occurs before the CS.

What is the interstimulus interval (ISI)?

The time between CS onset and US onset.

Does a CS always need to precede the US by only seconds?

No

What is the Garcia effect?

Taste cues readily become associated with later illness, sometimes after a delay of several hours.

What is CS-US belongingness or relevance?

Some combinations of CS and US are more readily associated because they are biologically relevant.

Which CS-US pairing is especially effective in conditioned taste aversion?

A taste CS followed by an illness US.

What is a CS+?

An excitatory conditioned stimulus signaling that the US is forthcoming.

What is a CS-?

An inhibitory conditioned stimulus signaling that an otherwise expected US will not occur.

What is the A+/AB- conditioned inhibition procedure?

A alone predicts the US; A presented with B predicts no US, allowing B to become an inhibitor.

What is Pavlov's stimulus substitution model?

The animal treats the CS as a substitute for the US, so the CS produces a CR resembling the UR.

What example challenges stimulus substitution?

With shock US, rats may leap as the UR but freeze as the CR.

Which factors determine the form (topography) of the CR?

The US, the CS, the ISI, and CS-US belongingness.

How can the US determine the nature of the CR?

The specific US and its effects influence which compensatory or preparatory CR occurs

What is a laboratory example of the US affecting CR topography?

Different outcomes such as food versus water elicit different forms of autoshaped pecking in pigeons.

How can the CS determine CR topography?

Different CS modalities paired with the same US can evoke different behaviors.

What is the lecture example of CS modality affecting the CR?

With food US, a light CS produces rearing toward the light, whereas a tone CS produces head-jerking.

How can ISI affect the nature of the CR?

The timing between CS onset and US onset changes which preparatory behaviors appear and when they occur.

What theory explains why US, CS, and ISI jointly affect the CR?

Timberlake's behavior systems theory: stimuli engage behavior systems and the CR depends on US, CS, and ISI.

What is conditioned inhibition different from?

A neutral stimulus: an inhibitor actively predicts omission of an otherwise expected US.

Why do we need control groups in classical conditioning?

To rule out behavioral changes caused by separate CS or US exposure rather than an acquired CS-US association.